Flipping Food-Ordering On Its Head

The world of fast food moves fast, but not quickly enough for the many of us whose hunger pangs are frustrated by the often elaborate means of ordering it for delivery or collection.

Very much a first-world problem, I know, but try telling that to the growing numbers of people who see ordering in as an essential part of the daily routine after a busy day’s work.

And whilst fast food itself has moved on from the traditional chipper or Chinese takeaway, with many leading restaurants now offering a take-home menu, ordering in still involves either the phone call to the restaurant or the online system that obliges the hungry customer to jump through a series of hoops before placing their order.

So Frustrated, He Flipped

Our featured guest on Kickstart Your Business, Conor McCarthy, was one such hungry and frustrated diner. With a background in software development, Conor first considered developing an online food ordering system back in 2007, but didn’t feel he could bring anything new to the dinner party back then. Seven years later, and appalled by the poor customer experience delivered by other food-ordering apps, he decided to develop Flipdish, a two-tap app for the hungry diner.

His revolutionary app, cuts out many of the unnecessary steps to dining heaven, resulting in food ordering that’s almost two and a half times faster than competitors.

Winning The Hunger Games

Whilst George professed himself to be a sceptic when it comes to fast food (he’s the man, remember, who turned down the McDonald’s franchise opportunity because “the Irish will never take to burgers”), he did appreciate that for the growing numbers of people who want fast food fast, Conor’s speedy app is likely to be just what the hungry diner ordered.

Meanwhile, I applauded those features which Conor has included, many of them intuitive but still absent from so many other apps, such as localising your choice of restaurant or dish, which make ordering such a pleasure. Technology often promises to deliver better customer service, but the customer experience is frequently the opposite. An app that genuinely makes things easier is something of a rarity.

Fast Forward To Success

How do you suggest Conor might win the hunger games for diners in Ireland, the UK and beyond?

Listen back to Conor on Kickstart Your Business (with thanks to Energia), and tell us what you think?

http://www.newstalk.com/Kickstart-Your-Business:-Flipdish

We’d love to hear from you.

Kickstart Your Business is broadcast on The Right Hook on Newstalk every Thursday around 6.25pm, and is available for playback immediately afterwards at Newstalk.com.